100 years have passed since Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team of explorers were the first to conquer the South Pole 14th December 1911. The golden age of polar exploration had seen both Shackleton and Scott attempt to take the South Pole and fail, while Nansen trekked further north than any man before him. Mr Kvam brought these stories alive during a talk for 3000 students at the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). The topic garnered a lot of interest as it also did at the prestigious Raffles Institution where 200 first year students gathered to listen.
Mr. Ragnar Kvam is an author and an adventurer having sailed around the world for 14 years in his 37 foot sailing boat. He is a historian and has written several books on the polar explorers. In his book The Great Four, Kvam studies the personalities of the giants of the ice; Fridtjof Nansen, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott, with a particular emphasis on their ability to lead their men. Mr Kvam held a talk focusing on the explorers’ leadership skills at Singapore Management University.
Before his departure from Singapore, Mr Kvam also got a chance to visit the Norwegian Seaman’s Mission which he had first visited 17 years ago by boat. There he met over 50 members of the Norwegian community, many of whom had embarked on their own sailing adventures and were eager to share tales in addition to hearing about the famous Norwegian Polar explorers.
Both Ragnar Kvam’s visit and an exhibition entitled Polar Norway: The White adventure at the Science Centre Singapore was timed to coincide with the celebration of the Nansen-Amundsen centenary this year. The exhibition at the Science Centre is on display until the end of June 2011.
Photo: RNE
Photo: RNE